Teana's Travels Book 7 Angels & Demons
by D.K.N
Summary: Proper title "Angels & Demons, Love & Sorrow", but that won't fit in the title input place. Gamma Team reaches the Earth that Kaede called home. There, old tensions rise as Kaede encounters the boy she loved and the girl who took him from her. Rated M for violence and language, just to be safe.
1. What Was Lost

Took a while due to having to watch through the _Shuffle _anime and focus on my Mass Effect Trilogy playthrough as an Engineer (complete with Leviathan DLC storyline).

**DISCLAIMERS (COPY/PASTED FROM 1****ST**** CHAPTER OF LAST BOOK):**

_Mahō Shōjo Lyrical Nanoha _(Teana, concept of Intelligent Devices, some magic) – 7Arcs

_Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni _(Shion) – 07th Expansion and Studio Deen

_Shuffle! _(Kaede Fuyō, everyone else in this particular Book) – Navel and Asread

_Erika's New Perfume _(Swanson Family, Timmy) – Deviant-Art artist Lance the Young

_Mai-chan's Daily Life _(Mai & Kizuna) – Waita Uziga

_Star Wars _(Ahsoka, Cody, Rex) – George Lucas, Lucasfilm

_Halo _(Forerunners, UNSC, Sangheili Alliance) – Bungie and 343 Industries

_StarCraft _(multiple mentions of characters, events, and devices) – Blizzard Entertainment

_Naruto _(jutsu, abilities) – Masashi Kishimoto

_Mahō Sensei Negima _(spells, abilities)– Ken Akamatsu

**CHARACTER HEIGHTS (SEE BOOK 6 FOR GAMMA TEAM, SWANSON FAMILY, TIMMY, & KIZUNA):**

**Rin Tsuchimi: **5. 9.8" (1.775m)

**Asa Shigure: **5' 4.2" (1.63m)

**Ama Shigure: **5' 3.5" (1.613m)

**Lisianthus "Sia" Eustoma: **5'3" (1.6m)

**Nerine Forbessi: **5' 0.5" (1.54m)

**Primula: **4' 11.4" (1.51m)

**-**_**BOOK START**_**-**

Rin Tsuchimi sat on the park bench that he frequented, bags under his eyes, looking numb to the world. It had been eight weeks since that day – the day when his attempt to give an old friend the chance to move on had instead resulted in her disappearing forever, to almost-certain death.

He constantly berated himself for not noticing as Kaede slowly unraveled as – he now admitted – he ignored her in favor of Asa. He had failed to realize that her mental state had never truly recovered from all those years ago, and that he had literally still been her only reason to live. And then she'd attacked Asa, hands around the other girl's neck until Rin had pried her off, screaming obscenities and threats as Asa's "condition" flared up and she collapsed. When Rin had promptly spent nearly all of his time tending to Asa in the hospital while still passing Kaede over, the girl had finally gotten desperate enough to crawl into his bed while naked and latch onto him, begging him not to leave her alone, to stay with her, to stop ignoring her.

He'd freaked out and ran out of the house despite her broken pleas for him to stay. When he'd eventually returned, she'd broken down again when he admitted his plans to move out of the house, and had then shut herself away in her room for days after failing to convince him not to, with Primula bringing her food and water. He knew she was suffering, but he told himself and others that she needed this, that she had to learn to live without using him as a crutch, and that she would prove strong enough to endure and move on.

And then, while gathered at the hospital, he and the others – Asa & Ama, Lisianthus, Nerine, Primula, and even Mayumi & Itsuki – had gotten the magic-based recorded message from her, a ball of magical light that expanded and transformed into a holo-screen, showing Kaede looking an absolute wreck – bags under her bloodshot eyes, pale & thin, shivering and twitching ever so slightly.

"_Everyone…_" she had said in the message, her voice trembling. "_I am leaving this world. There is a fluctuation in the dimensional boundaries. I'm going to take advantage of it… and leave this realm forever. I… Many years ago, Rin-kun made himself a scapegoat, crafting a lie so my misplaced hatred of him would keep my alive. Three years ago I discovered the truth, and he stopped me from dying again. I devoted myself to serving him. I had no other purpose, no reason to live other than to atone, to serve him in any & every way he wanted or needed. And now… he has gotten involved with Asa-senpai. He's cast me aside. I'm not needed anymore by him… by anyone. And… at some point, I… fell in love with him. I love Rin-kun so, so much. …But he doesn't love me. And never will._

"_I… I have no reason to keep going. I'm filled with coldness and hatred. I hate Asa for stealing Rin-kun from me. Even though I love him, I also hate Rin-kun for ignoring me, for rejecting me, for not loving me back. And… I hate myself… for feeling all these things… for not being able to stop things from getting to this point… for not having a purpose, a reason to exist. I have no reason to live… so I should just die._

"_I'm going to set the dimensional transference spell to send me somewhere dangerous, somewhere war-torn. There, I'll… meet my end. I've already found an alternate Earth in the midst of an invasion, with millions dead so far. I will be among them. Asa… I hope you're happy, you bitch. Now you can have Rin-kun all to yourself. And Rin-kun… now you won't have to worry about putting up with me tripping over myself to keep you happy. …Rimu-chan… take care of yourself._

"_If things go as planned… then none of you will ever see me or hear from me again. Goodbye._"

Less than 10 seconds after the message had ended, there'd been a deep pulsing sound reverberating through the city, accompanying a brilliant beam of light that shot up into the heavens… straight up from Rin & Kaede's house. They had all rushed to the house, to find that she was indeed gone, having left all her things behind, her room now bearing a crushing emptiness.

That was the first time Primula had ever openly broken down in tears, as it all sank in.

Lisianthus' & Nerine's fathers had nigh-immediately called together a task-force of their best mages to try and locate Kaede, to no avail. They had confirmed, however, that the world she jumped to was under siege by an extraterrestrial invasion (though other extraterrestrials were supposedly helping the humans of that Earth in trying to push the invaders back), and that there was a very low chance she'd last more than a day there. As far as everyone & anyone could tell, Kaede was dead. And as far as Rin could see, it was his fault.

The girls took it hard as well. Primula, who now lived with Nerine, was constantly moping and restless, overcome with sorrow over losing her big-sister figure, and was now quite cold (even for her) to Rin, blaming him for Kaede's apparent death. Lisianthus and Nerine were deeply saddened, the former slightly more so due to the beginnings of attraction she had held for Kaede. Asa was grief-stricken; she felt it was her fault just as much as Rin felt it was his, and she couldn't really bear the fact that the girl who used to be a beloved little-sister figure had come to hate her, and that their last interaction ever was Kaede trying to strangle her. The girl's legion of fanboys – "_Kitto, Kitto Kaede_" – were utterly (and melodramatically) devastated when the news got out at school, a few of them attempting suicide; the school had to hire security to prevent some of them from trying to kill Rin and/or Asa.

Rin let out a shuddering sigh as the mid-morning sun beat down on the empty park, the bench he was currently seated on shaded by a tree. He faintly recalled something about Nerine's father mentioning one of his team's scanners detecting a strange, brief burst of Cherenkov radiation in high orbit yesterday evening; it was probably some random stellar phenomenon. He barely noticed as someone sat down next to him.

"It looks like something's really bothering you" said a girl's voice. Rin turned his head, and saw the human girl now seated next to him, clad in a brown, face-obscuring cloak that seemed to make it hard for him to focus directly on her.

"You look like Hell" she said bluntly.

"I feel like I belong in it" Rin replied in a listless tone. "I… caused the death of one of my oldest and dearest friends."

The girl tilted her head. "How so?"

He sighed. "She fell in love with me. I was too dense to notice, and fell for another girl. I wound up unintentionally ignoring my friend, who has never been fully stable since her mother's death 10 years ago. My friend used me as an anchor; she justified her existence by 'serving' me. I figured that by moving out of her house, I could force her to move on, to become stronger so that she wouldn't have to rely on people. …Instead, it drove her to leave a message revealing that she loved me, and then use a dimensional transference spell to whisk herself away to a planet in the midst of an invasion, with the intent of getting herself killed by the invaders. She left us with the express intent to die. Because of me. I… I killed her. It's because of my actions and inactions that she went off to get herself killed. It's my fault she's dead…"

After several seconds, the girl reached into her pocket and pulled out a disc of some sorts.

"Get your friends – and this 'dead' girl's – together and observe the data on this disc. It's imbued with a temporal distortion field projector so you can squeeze all of its data into less than a day. It will answer some questions for you."

"What is it?" Rin asked as he took the disc.

"Recordings of various events and happenings in other dimensions, other realms – complete with flashbacks, dramatic camera angles, and music."

"…Is one of those realms… the one that Kaede sent herself to?"

"Perhaps, perhaps not."

"…So we at least might find out what kind of force she committed suicide-by-alien-invasion with."

The girl got up and began walking away. Before Rin's astonished eyes, she vanished; his eyes caught a faint blur of motion bounding away along the rooftops.

"Super-speed magic?" he wondered aloud. "Sia's father mentioned something like that existing…"

With that done, he headed to the small, dingy little apartment he now lived in, and soon made calls to everyone. It wasn't long before Primula, Mayumi, Itsuki, Asa & Ama, Lisianthus & her father, and Nerine & her father all arrived. They squeezed into the living room, which was uncomfortably small for so many people… until Nerine's father cast a spatial distortion spell (being a fan of human media, he had nicknamed it "the TARDIS spell") that enlarged the room's internal area without affecting its external size. After settling in, they sat down and watched, with the recordings somehow letting them _sense _things as well as see & hear them (the _shinzoku _and _mazoku _of the group could already naturally sense such things, while Ama had taught Rin how to sense people's energies recently, as she'd taught Asa a couple years back; Mayumi & Itsuki were just plain out of luck, though).

They watched the story of the little nine-year-old named Nanoha Takamachi, witnessing the girl's extraordinary magical power (Nerine's father stated that what he now knew was a Jewel Seed was presently locked up in a magically-sealed vault down in _Makai_), watching and gauging her fights against the mysterious blonde girl… and felt anger and horror at the sight of her being tortured by her 'mother'. As things progressed, Fate's true nature made something stir within Nerine, and she felt pity for the poor thing who had received the exact opposite of what her beloved but short-lived 'sister' Lycoris had: a normal lifespan, but being treated as a disposable 'thing' by her creator. They also heard Precia's final, repentant and remorseful thoughts as she plummeted into the void. They watched the Book of Darkness Incident play out, feeling nearly suffocated by the unholy energy of the Beast, and watching with awe as it was struck down.

They watched the rise of the United Nations Space Command, the troubles it faced over the centuries, the implementation of the morally gray Spartan-2 program… and the horror of the Covenant's arrival and declaration of intent, along with the Prophet Triumvirate's true, unforgivably selfish motivations for the war. They saw as human colonies fell one by one and billions died, watched the adventures of the _Spirit of Fire _and its crew, the gradual loss of a few Spartans, and ending with the humans' victory at Sigma Octanis.

It then switched to the events of the Koprulu Sector – the oppressive Confederacy, the enigmatic Protoss, the nightmarish Zerg, and the trials & tribulations of James Raynor. The fall of the Confederacy and birth of Mengsk's Dominion, the triumph of the Overmind, the splintering of the Protoss, the sacrifice of Tassadar (the feel of him channeling ki/chakra, magic, the Force, and the Void all at once during his final act was awe-inspiringly overwhelming), the ascension of Kerrigan, the arrival of the UED, Duran's betrayal, the deaths of Fenix, Duke, and Raszagal, Zeratul's horrifying discovery and the true nature of Duran (the two realm-kings actually displayed open fear at the presence and interference of a daemon), culminating with Kerrigan's trouncing of the three armies who tried and failed to make revenge upon her.

They witnessed the background and corruption of the Sol Confederacy, the rise of the Phoenix League, that Earth's 4th World War, and the following events (including the revelation that the entity calling itself Duran had a hand in Dragovich's fall). They watched the rise of Naruto Uzumaki, the forging of Team 7, the Demon of the Mist's redemption, the Forest of Death, the Exams, the Invasion, the search for Tsunade, Sasuke Uchiha's fall to darkness.

They then watched as focus shifted to the planet Midchilda; they saw the formation of Force Six, the opening moves of Scaglietti… and then the Hotel Augusta and White Devil Incidents. They watched as an enraged and broken Teana called Nanoha out with never-before-seen viciousness, ending with a self-applied total Linker Core Seal (to the open shock of the group's _mazoku _and _shinzoku_) and then made her exit from the realm… on a Forerunner warship.

It had then shown Teana's ordeals in the realm that the UNSC and Covenant called home – her augmentation, her arrival, her integration, her assigning to Noble Team, the Covenant's massive invasion of Reach and the death of Noble Team, which left the girl utterly heartbroken; the incidents on Halo-04, the revealing of The Flood, the Master Chief's rise to galactic-scale heroism, and the following long ride home for the few survivors; the Covenant's stumbling upon Earth and being chased off, the rise of the Arbiter, the discovery of Halo-05, the Prophets' betrayal, the reveal of the Gravemind (whose tainted psychic voice made the viewing group feel nauseous and disoriented), the outbreak of the Covenant Civil War and resulting allegiance change of the Sangheili and those loyal to them; the death of Tartarus, the awakening of Teana's bloodline, the race back to Earth, the battles against Truth's forces in Africa, the opening of the Ark Portal and the traveling to the ancient megastructure; the death of Truth, and with him the Covenant; the rescuing of Cortana; the firing of the incomplete Halo and the apparent death of the Gravemind.

They saw as Teana returned to that realm's Earth and settled in. They watched with surprise as the American girl – Marie – emerged from a rift in reality, being tended to by Teana and eventually confessing her "sins" to the girl. And then, to the shock of everyone viewing, they saw as, two days after Marie's arrival, a brilliant beam of light shot down from the heavens into the large garden at ONI HQ Teana & Marie were talking in - a very familiar-looking beam of light… which faded to show an orange-haired girl who fell to her hands and knees, magical energy arcing across her body.

"Kaede?-!" "Kaede-chan!" "Kaede!-!"

As the recording showed Teana and Marie racing over to her as she passed out ("Another one?-!" Teana had shouted), the viewing group was shocked silent. Shock segued into relief as they realized that, under the care of someone of Teana's level, and with the UNSC, Kaede's odds of still being alive had just soared upward.

They watched and listened as, a few hours later, Kaede explained herself to them, giving a somewhat more detailed version of the message she'd left for Rin and company. She and Marie soon found themselves comforting and supporting each other, with Teana helping both. The group watched as two more figures arrived – the green-haired girl named Shion who stated she had no surname, and the girl named Mai… whose truncated explanations and flashbacks of her past left them all disgusted and horrified. A few days afterward, it showed as Kaede, Shion, Marie, and Mai simultaneously and spontaneously had the skills and knowledge of soldiers, what Teana had learned through experience, dumped into their head by an unknown force (which left the four with headaches that lasted for a few hours as their brains sorted through all the new data; Nerine voiced how her merger with Lycoris years ago had caused the same thing for her).

They watched the campaign on the desert world of Crassus, and how UNSC & Sangheili Alliance reinforcements – including Teana and the other four girls – arrived just in time to turn the tide, with Kaede showing remarkable aptitude with the BR55 Heavy-Barrel Scoped Rifle. A few other missions against Loyalist holdouts followed, and then came the formation of Gamma Team, followed by the departure from that realm. They were also rather worried by the advice Teana gave Kaede to keep her going, advice that Kaede said she would take to heart:

"If you can't live for yourself, and you don't have anyone else to live for, then do what I've done: live for revenge. Remember what this Shigure girl did to you, what she took from you. Never forget it, and never forgive it. Keep yourself going, day by day, with the goal of eventually getting revenge on her for all that… just as I've kept myself going with the need to avenge Noble Team by killing Truth… and how I _will _become strong enough to get revenge on the woman who betrayed me. Use your hatred of this 'Asa' to keep yourself going, just as my hatred of Takamachi has kept me alive and strong. …Though, should you eventually find somebody else to live for in addition to that hatred and revenge, go for it; a little love will keep the hatred from completely consuming you."

The thought that Kaede's hatred of her was literally all the other girl was running on made Asa feel both scared and sad.

They watched the brief stop-over in a certain galaxy, expressing shock (and, in Itsuki's case, fanboy-ing) at the adding of a Jedi and two Clone Commanders to the team. They watched as events shifted to the Koprulu Sector, as Kaede and her team got involved with Raynor and his forces, fighting Zerg and Dominion forces, learning of Zeratul's earth-shattering revelations and discoveries (including the Dark Voice, a Daemon Lord whose presence was as unnatural and suffocating as the Gravemind's), the exposing of Mengsk's cruelty to the public, the assault on Char, and the purification of Kerrigan.

Then came something not including Gamma's exploits: a return to the realm of shinobi. It showed Naruto's return; the emergence of Akatsuki, the loss and then reclaiming of Gaara (and the sacrifice of Elder Chiyo); the introduction of Yamato and Sai, the battle at the bridge… and Naruto's complete loss of control, becoming an abomination whose presence left the viewers (except the sensory-ability-lacking Mayumi & Itsuki) near-terrified; and finishing with the clash against Sasuke.

Then they watched the _Starshot_'s arrival in the realm that the Phoenix League and the Tripartate called home; the implantation of knowledge of chakra and how to use it into the minds of the six girls of Gamma Team; the missions against pirates, intercut with casual downtime; Shion's explanation of her past; the fight against a greater demon… that culminated in the awakening of Teana's _Mangekyō Sharingan_; the reveal of Marie's Intelligent Device; the shot of Marie & Kaede lying in bed together (covered by a bedsheet yet obviously nude), asleep and with blissful smiles on their faces, entwined together and holding each other close ('She actually found someone else' Rin thought, 'a new reason to live, another person to live for…'); and the ship's departure from that realm.

They watched the girls' arrival at the world of shinobi, their integration into _Konohagakure_; the revelation of Teana's heritage; the emergence, alongside Shion's & Mai's confirmed _Jinchūriki _status (well, Type-2 for Mai), of Kaede's _kekkei genkai_, which left the group quite shocked indeed, especially since the ability to manipulate her bones in such a way also came with a healing factor as what Itsuki dubbed "required secondary powers"; the debacle with the Type-2 _Jinchūriki _named Sora; the 'bonding' of Shion and Mai; the attack of Hidan & Kakuzu, the tragic death of Asuma (which had everyone crying, even Primula a little), and Shikamaru's vengeance & Naruto's devastating new attack; the incident with the 3-Tails; the revelation of the Masked Man's true role; the epic clash between Pain and Jiraiya that ended with the noble old warrior's death; the landscape-shattering duel between Sasuke & Itachi… and the crushing revelations that followed, along with Sasuke's full fall to darkness; Pain's devastating invasion of the Hidden Leaf Village, Naruto's triumphant return with dazzling new power… and the new power's failure, resulting in the full rage and fury of the _Kyūbi _being unleashed like never before; the revelations of Nagato's past; Naruto's ultimate choice, and the choice that Nagato in turn made to undo some of the damage he'd caused; the aftermath of the battle, and the _Starshot_'s departure.

They also witnessed during the stay on that world as Gaara, having heard about Kaede's bloodline ability, had a flashback of comparisons thanks to having overheard her explanation of a part of her past to Tsunade ("_Serving and loving Rin-kun was the only thing that gave my life meaning! It was everything! But he couldn't understand that, and he cast me out! Rejected me! Took away my reason to exist!-!_" "_I am not his pawn! Orochimaru-sama is the only one to ever give my life meaning! But how could the likes of __**you **__ever understand that?-!_"), which worried and struck a chord with Rin as he found himself seeing exactly how Kaede and Kimimaro had more in common than a _kekkei genkai_…

The group watched the tale of Negi Springfield; his graduation and appointment at Mahora; how Asuna found herself caught up in events; Evangeline's attack (Sia & Nerine's fathers were surprised to not only see a _shinso_-class vampiress in action, but one who was such an absurdly powerful mage), and the introduction of another girl named Kaede (though Nagase used different _kanji _for her name than the Kaede the viewers knew); the incidents in Kyōto; Negi's heart-wrenching past, Kotarō's switching over to the good guys, and the first glimpse of the depths of Negi's trauma and rage; the arrival of the _Starshot_, and the revelations that rocked Teana's world and shattered her strongly-held beliefs; the blending and bonding of Gamma Team with the locals; training; preparations for the Mahora Festival, and then the actual festival itself, with the various events that took place within it; Chao's gambit, and the battle between her & Negi… and the following revelations by her on just what was at stake; the summer vacation and assorted hijinks; Kaede's tearful confessions to Marie ("I didn't _care _how many girls Rin-kun was involved with! Just so long as I was one of them!") that brought a fresh wave of guilt to Rin and Asa.

Then they watched as things got serious. The trip to London and then to _Mundus Magicus_… and the battle that broke out with Negi's near-death and ended with everyone scattered across the planet; Negi nearly succumbing to internal damage by mana overload (everyone recognized the similarities to what had befallen Primula, while Asa looked a tad uncomfortable with herself) only to be "saved" by Kotarō (Chisame: "Why couldn't you have just, I dunno, had him fire spells into the air, or something?" Kotarō: "That wouldn't have been as fun for me"); Kaede & her group meeting up with Negi's (complete with Kaede and Marie practically leaping into each other's arms); the discovery of Ako & co.'s predicament… and the short but one-sided battle that followed; the entry into the New Ostia Tournament; Negi's accepting of _Magia Erebea _(which had Sia & Nerine's fathers quite uneasy, especially that a human child with deep-seated psychological issues was trying to wield such a power); the fight against Averruncus in New Ostia; Rakan's vids giving some detail on the Great War, including Princess Arika and the Lifemaker… followed by the revelation that the real Asuna was now in Averruncus' clutches, with a sleeper agent amongst the good guys.

They watched as the days leading up to the Finals rolled by; Negi's demonstration of his obscenely powerful spell against an unfortunate floating mountain; the 30-in-3-days training montage; Ako getting her heart broken as the truth about 'Nagi' comes out; the world-shaking battle between Negi and Rakan that left the viewers' jaws dropped; finding Yue and restoring her memories; the encounter with Kurt Gödel; the Ostia Ball (including Kaede's delighted reaction to Teana & Marie in tuxedoes); Kurt's revelations, and Negi's daemonic transformation ("Saw it coming" Nerine's father had muttered); the three-way clash between Team Negi, the Megalomesembrian forces, and _Cosmo Entelecheia _(including Kaede carving through shadow-summons, and Marie & Teana showing off their new top-level magic attacks); the horrible truth about _Mundus Magicus_; the unmasking of "Shiori"; Negi's trial of darkness; the flight to the Gravekeeper's Castle; the interference of Zazie's sister, and the reveal that she was a _Mazōku_ whose power far outstripped even Nerine and her father, as well as that Mana was a very powerful half-_mazōku _(Ama chanced a look at Asa when this came out).

The battle in the castle (including Kaede's rather one-sided battle against Koyomi); Negi descending deeper into darkness than ever before; the operation to rescue Asuna from Fate… and the sudden emergence of Averruncus 4 through 6, and the resulting battles; the final clashes between Negi & Fate and between Teana & Dynamis; the surprise appearance of the Lifemaker; the counterattack of unexpected reinforcements for the heroes; the freeing of Asuna, and the truth behind Nagi's fate; the return to that realm's Earth; the Lifemaker's breaking free of his seal; Chao's return; the battles against _Cosmo Entelecheia_ (including Kaede and the other Kaede easily dispatching Tésseris); the discovery and freeing of Arika; the fight against Dynamis and the few other remaining CE members, followed shortly afterward by the Lifemaker being exorcised from Nagi… and then returning with a new body, killing Chao, and revealing himself to be a Precursor; the encounters within the dream world of the Eternal Garden, including Kaede's encounter with the ghost of her mother; the team rallying around Teana, pulling her away from the "despair event horizon", and then combining power to break free of the Lifemaker's realm; the final, epic clash against the Last Precursor, culminating in his destruction.

The calm aftermath of the final battle… and the revelation that the girls would have to swing by the realms they left behind; the departure, and then arrival at Mai & Marie's homeworld; Mai getting long-deserved vengeance against the woman who'd ruled and ruined her life; the rescuing of Kizuna; the trip across that Earth's Pacific Ocean to California, and the heartwarming reunion between Marie and her family; the days of peace and normalcy, which ended with the addition of four new people to the _Starshot_'s group.

As the vids finally came to an end, the sun was setting outside, even with the time dilation spell in effect. The shock still hadn't worn off yet at just how much Kaede had been through since departing. After nearly a minute of total silence, however, Sia's father spoke up.

"Rin-chan, you said that a girl in a cloak gave this data to you?"

"Y-Yes" the boy replied.

"…May I use a memory-scan spell on you? I'd like to check something."

A minute later, the memory of the girl's voice had been pulled free, and the man then inputted the sound into a magitech computer. He then ran it through voice-recognition software… and came up with an exact match for Mai Kitagawa.

"The burst of Cherenkov radiation…" Nerine's father said, eyes wide in realization. "During the UNSC arc, they mentioned how that accompanies a ship carrying nuclear warheads transitioning from slipspace releases a burst of it…"

Before anyone could process this further, Sia's father got a call. After he terminated the connection, he turned to the group.

"We just picked up a peculiar aircraft flying in from overseas. It… matches the description of a D77 Pelican dropship. And it's heading for here. …They're here. She's come home."

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**

Next chapter, Gamma Team actually shows up, and old tensions boil over…


	2. Is Found Again

Have started first ever playthrough of _Sonic Unleashed _(…I have discovered that my reaction time is not as good as I thought it was); updates may be, as usual, somewhat sporadic, especially considering the recent starting of fall semester (I _**hate**_ math; I'm taking Intermediate Algebra (MATH-040), which I have already failed about two years ago (well, D-minus), and I have the same too-quiet, thick-accented instructor who goes way too fast for my math-inept brain as last time, so my hopes aren't high this time around, either).

SEE CHAPTER 1 FOR MOST DISCLAIMERS

_DEAD SPACE 2_ (MARIE'S GAME) IS THE PROPERTY OF VISCERAL GAMES

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

The Pelican flew down into the deserted park. Mai walked up closer as it touched down, moving her hood back as she walked. It set down, and the other five members of Gamma Team stepped out (Ahsoka wearing her 'Don't-Notice-My-Oddness' enchanted cloak). A few seconds later, Marie gave a signal, and five others exited the vehicle: her mother & sisters, her little sister's boyfriend, and Mai's little friend.

True to Sarah's prediction, the jump between dimensions had triggered the pouring of knowledge and skills into the minds of her, Erika, Timmy, Kizuna, and Veronica. They had assimilated it well enough (after about an hour of headaches), and during the three days of slipspace travel they'd already started training, especially Sarah & Erika. They'd already all determined their elemental affinities, even: Water for Erika, Wind for Sarah, Lightning for Timmy, and Fire & Earth for Veronica and Kizuna… and the latter also had the Lava Release _kekkei genkai_.

"I remember this park…" Kaede said, sad nostalgia in her voice.

"Mirage, how much time has passed here since Kaede left this world?" Teana asked her Device.

"Scanning…" Cross Mirage replied. "Locally, it has been eight weeks since Gamma-3's departure from this planet."

"Whereas for me it's been nearly half a year since I left this realm" Kaede said. "Guess the flow of time really is screwed up…"

"We've got company" Ahsoka said, pointing to a group of people visible running toward them in the distance.

As the group got closer, most of them slowed a bit… except for Primula, who ran full-tilt and tackle-hugged Kaede so hard that the taller girl almost fell over, crying and clinging to her for dear life. After a few seconds of shock, she quickly returned the hug, feeling the smaller girl sobbing in her arms.

"Rimu-chan…" she said softly. "It's good to see you again."

"K-Kaede" Primula whimpered, her face buried in the other girl's chest.

"She's been a wreck since you left" said a blue-haired girl with long, pointed ears as she and the others caught up.

"Nerine-san" Kaede quickly recognized the _mazōku _walking up to her… as well as the _shinzoku _who shoved her way past and threw her arms around Kaede.

"Kae-chan!" Lisianthus cried. "Thank God! You're back! You're back… You're alive…"

"Sia-chan…" Kaede added the redhead to the hug, an arm going around her shoulders while the other held onto Primula.

It wasn't long before the rest – Rin, Asa, Ama, Mayumi, Itsuki, and Sia & Nerine's fathers – caught up. As the hug disengaged, Marie shot a dark look at Rin and Asa… which was nothing compared to the positively _murderous _glare Kaede hit them with as Marie moved in close to her. The others felt as if the air chilled a few degrees as they took notice, while Asa felt a brief flash of fear-for-her-life panic, and Rin immediately put his decision to welcome Kaede back on hold for the foreseeable future. Teana put a hand on Kaede's shoulder, though she too was looking at Rin and Asa with a bit of contempt. Veronica and Ama quickly moved to clandestinely distract the involved parties, stopping a fight before it could start by redirecting Kaede's attention to Mayumi, who acted her usual boisterous self to further help defuse the situation, pulling Kaede into a slightly rough one-armed hug while good-naturedly berating her for worrying everyone so much.

For once, Itsuki chose not to try hitting on any of the new arrivals, mainly for fear of what Teana might do to him.

After several more minutes of mingling, Mayumi and Itsuki had to head to their homes while the rest of the group headed off together, Nerine's father insisting the group hole up at his house for a while. As they got there, the Sun had almost set, and a few of them volunteered to fix some dinner (Mai: "You know how to cook, boss?" Teana: "Hey, with how hopeless Subaru is with food preparation, I had to keep my skills sharp or the two of us would've had to live on take-out during our academy days." Asa: "Why did your girlfriend look a little down when we came in here?" Kaede: "I don't let Marie in the kitchen anymore. Not after last time. …Sweet mercy, it was _everywhere!_ And she messed up ramen! _Ramen_!_ How _do you mess up _ramen_?-! I love her, but _God_, she's a _disaster _in the kitchen!" Sarah: "…Okay, you've _got _to tell me that story sometime."). The meal was mostly uneventful, but the hostile tension remained between two certain girls.

After dinner, it was decided that the girls of Gamma would stay at Kaede's house (which had been left untouched out of respect during the eight weeks she was presumed dead), as would Marie's group, Kizuna, and Primula; the others would return to their homes for the night.

That night, around 11:15, when everyone else was already in bed and either asleep or trying to fall asleep, Marie was still up, the dark living room illuminated by the television as the controller was clutched in her slightly shaking hands. On the screen, Isaac Clarke followed the commands of Marie's fingers, nervously stalking through dark corridors with plasma cutter in hand. Unearthly whispering became audible in-game, and Marie's heart-rate went up with nervousness and fear.

Suddenly, just as something innocuous moved in-game, Marie felt as arms wrapped themselves tightly around her from behind, and a harsh whisper was blurted into her ear:

"_Make us whole!_"

The resulting scream woke everyone in the house.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**8:15 AM**

The next morning, the group sat at the table as Veronica and Teana prepared breakfast.

"I am so, so sorry, sis" Marie was profusely apologizing to her elder. "It was an instinctual reaction. I-I didn't mean to hurt you!"

Sarah, for her part, gave a tired grin, Mai's glowing green hand hovering over and healing her black eye.

"Eh, I was kinda asking for it, when you think about it" Sarah replied. "I should've known better than to do that. I'm sorry."

"At least the boss let me sleep curled up next to her to keep nightmares away…" Marie murmured, a light blush on her face at the memory of waking up being held close and cuddled by the sleeping redhead… and that upon waking up, Teana had continued holding her like that for at least 15 minutes. Sarah gave her a grin in response, causing Marie's blush to deepen a little.

"It could've been worse" Kizuna said while admiring how cute Mai looked in that apron she'd put on before breaking off her breakfast-making to fix up Sarah. "She could've hit you with a spell or a _jutsu_."

"Yeah, I d-don't think Kaede would appreciate having a new hole in her wall" Erika said, nonchalantly resting her head on Timmy's shoulder while he had an arm around her shoulders.

"…Hey, speaking of Kaede, where is she?" Ahsoka asked. The others, taking notice of the Togrutan teen's query, looked around and at each other.

"I haven't seen her, either" Shion replied. "She's not in or near the house; I can sense that much."

"…Oh, I remember now" Timmy said. "I woke up a little early, when the Sun was just beginning to rise, and when I stepped out to get a drink I caught her heading out. I asked, and she said she needed a walk to focus her thoughts for something. I… wasn't wholly awake at the time, I confess, and I went right back to bed afterward. …Erika was already starting to toss & turn after only eight minutes without me to snuggle with."

He said the last part with a bit of a grin. The girl in question blushed at her boyfriend's remark, letting out a quiet, annoyed grumble at his tease that was more cute than threatening.

"…Hey, Boss?"

"Yeah, Ahsoka?"

"…You don't think she could be…"

"…Crap. Alright, as soon as we finish breakfast, everyone, we're going out to look for her."

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**11:30 AM**

Asa and Rin wandered through town, just the two of them, enjoying each other's company. Kaede's confirmed survival and then return had taken quite a load off their shoulders; last night had been the first time in two months either of them had gotten a good night's sleep. Although, as they went on their 'it's not a date, honest' date, they couldn't help but feel like they were being watched.

As they cut through a park on their way to lunch, a lone figure dropped out of a tree, landing in front of them. Kaede stood in their path, body held in a slightly limp position, head bowed to hide her face.

"You two look _so happy _together" she said, her tone low and positively venomous. Rin was shocked; not even when she'd hated him growing up had she spoken to him with such hate in her voice.

"It must be funny to you on some level, Shigure" she continued. "Spend all those years teaching me how to impress and care for your old childhood friend, only to steal him right out from under me. How many years were you planning it, huh? Y'know, if you'd just stated your intentions from the start, it wouldn't have hurt me as much, since it wouldn't have been such an unexpected betrayal. Stealing the boy I love, and making it so he could never love me or anyone else other than you…"

"I…" Asa was a little afraid now. "I-If you had just talked to me, we could've worked something out. I would've shared h-"

"_LIAR!-!_"

A pitch-black aura erupted around Kaede, the pavement beneath her cracking. She looked up at them, teeth bared beneath eyes that now sported golden-yellow irises and pitch-black sclera. Rin suddenly remembered the scenes from the vids – when Evangeline had lost control against Klaus and Setsuna, and Negi against Gödel.

"You took _everything _from me!" Kaede roared, her attention focused solely on Asa, no longer even aware Rin was there. "My reason for living! The only person who gave my life _meaning_! Now… I'll take what I can from _you_: revenge for robbing me of my life!-! _People like you… DESERVE TO DIE!-!-!_"

In a blur of motion faster than the untrained eye could track, Kaede lunged forward, landing a punch that sent Asa hurtling backward through the air; only the abundance of untapped mana within her kept it from being a fatal blow. In a rush of speed, Kaede rushed her, her right arm sprouting several spikes of bone and coming down for a strike as Asa picked herself up, wiping the blood from her cheek. The green-haired girl was now thoroughly terrified as the situation sank in, and as the enraged bloodline-bearer charged at her, her automatic survival instincts overcame and took precedence over the years-long promise made to herself to avoid making her mother unhappy, and she threw her hand forward, conjuring a shield of raw magic that stopped the attack. Kaede's black eyes widened in surprise, but then narrowed in anger as she tried to force her way through the shield.

Within a few seconds, the shield failed, shattering like glass, and Asa instinctively made a magic-charged leap away, barely avoiding being skewered. A barrage of finger bone-bullets bounced off another hastily conjured shield, which gave the Darkness-imbued Kaede enough time to form a Humerus Sword and lash out:

"_Tsubaki no Mai: Kakei!_" (Dance of the Camellia: Stem (of a flower))

Kaede's left arm became a blue of movement as she unleashed a high-speed barrage of stabbing strikes, battering the shield and quickly overwhelming it, the last few strikes landing glancing blows on Asa, drawing blood. The green-haired girl in question flash-stepped backward… and as soon as she came out of it she found herself victim of a lariat move that slammed her into the ground. Kaede raised her bone-blade high to stab downward… and Asa near-automatically fired a compressed blast of raw magic that sent her upward and back, landing on her feet a few meters away. She got to her feet, her breath short and with fear gripping her heart. Bones emerged and shifted around Kaede's right arm. Soon, they formed an armored and spiked gauntlet that covered her forearm and hand, with each finger housed in a large, sharp claw.

"I have been waiting for this for a long, long time, you traitorous, backstabbing bitch" the darkness-corrupted girl snarled.

And then she charged.

Over the next 15 minutes, as the duel played out all throughout the quickly-evacuated park, it quickly became clear exactly how one-sided this battle was. Every burst of magic Asa fired was dodged or simply ignored; every shield she cast was battered and broken through. And all the while, Kaede subsumed herself in her rage, her darkness, never faltering, never slowing down, throwing out _jutsu _and physical strikes that proved without a doubt she meant to kill. The girl's fury was terrifying and relentless, and Asa had never felt more scared before in her entire life. Now, Asa poured as much of her long-held-back magical energy as she could into a single burst, and let it fly. An explosion went off on impact, obscuring Kaede from view.

"I'm sorry, Kaede" she muttered sadly, feeling the gashes, slashes, stab wounds, and burns covering her body, her battered bones aching.

"Not as sorry as you are about to be" came the vicious voice from behind her. Asa spun… and blood flew as Kaede's rising bone-blade strike sliced across Asa's left eye, virtually destroying the sensory organ in question. Asa's scream was cut short by a devastating uppercut that lifted her off the ground, followed by a downward strike that slammed her _hard _into the ground; she felt as some of her ribs broke on impact. With her one good eye, she looked up as Kaede pinned her, the girl's eyes still that terrible black, the irises glowing gold, as her orange hair was now partially turned to an unnatural pale silver. The girl drew her gauntleted right arm back, and then brought it down into Asa's gut, knocking the wind out of her. Then, the gauntlet shifted and changed, transforming into a power first with a piston mechanism. At this point, she could no longer notice the calls of her team as they ran in approach, nor of Rin as he came as fast as his legs could carry him. She saw the terror and pleading in Asa's eye as she looked up, begging for mercy.

Mercy that was not given.

The piston rammed downward, and the ground cratered beneath Asa as several of her organs were all but pulverized. Blood flew upward from her mouth, wide open in a silent scream, and seconds later consciousness left her. Kaede stood upward, looking up to the sky… and then keeling over backward, her hair and eyes returning to normal as her Heart's Darkness returned to its slumber, and exhaustion claimed her. Immediately, Teana, Shion, and Rin rushed forward.

"Control, this is Gamma-2!" Shion radioed. "We need an immediate MEDEVAC! Situation critical!"

Within a minute, a Pelican flew into the clearing, medics jumping out and scooping up both girls, Mai coming along with them to continue trying to stabilize Asa and keep her alive. The dropship closed up and rocketed out to sea, making a top-speed beeline for the _Starshot_.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

_**Starshot **_**Medical Wing**

**2:30 PM**

Everyone was gathered in the lobby of the destroyer-class vessel's hospital wing. The girls of Gamma (minus Kaede, obviously) anxiously gathered, while the 'home group' (Rin, Ama, Sia, Nerine, & Primula) were positively consumed with worry. Marie had known that Kaede still harbored a grudge toward the Shigure girl, but… well, this had been _way _more than a grudge. That she had apparently been partially consumed by her repressed Darkness helped to explain it somewhat, but the thought that her sweetheart of a girlfriend could be so murderously, insanely rage-filled and violent scared her. Ama was inconsolable with worry and fear, Veronica holding the shorter and younger mother, trying to keep her together. Rin was in little better shape, blaming himself for the utter clusterfuck this had become.

A UNSC medical technician came out, and everyone's eyes were on him.

"How are they, Doctor?" Sarah asked.

"Neither of them are in any danger of dying anymore, if that's what you're wondering".

Everyone breathed sighs of relief, Ama almost collapsing as the tension left her.

"Give us a damage report" Teana said.

"Right. Warrant Officer Fuyō is suffering from effects similar to light-to-mild chakra exhaustion, despite the fact that her reserves are still at two-thirds of normal; we believe it's a side effect of that corruptive Darkness that had a hold of her. Also, the fight wasn't entirely one-sided; she has plenty of surface wounds, and her healing factor seems to have slowed a bit, likely until she recovers.

"Ms. Shigure was in considerably worse shape, but she's out of danger. She has a handful of broken bones. A lot of her organs took some serious damage, but we repaired the ones we could and – thanks to our flash-cloning tech – replaced the ones we couldn't, so she's more or less fine in that regard. We… could not save her left eye; she'll need to be fitted with a cybernetic replacement."

"She… lost her eye…?" Ama's voice trembled, having not been informed of the nature of her daughter's injuries.

"I'm afraid so" the doctor replied. "Not to worry, though; we've long since developed extraordinarily advanced synthetic replacements, with vision as good as an organic eye. Once she's fitted with one, she won't even be able to tell it's a cybernetic replacement unless she looks in the mirror. …Though, as that sentence implies, we've mastered function but not yet form when it comes to artificial eyes; anyone who takes a close look will be able to tell it's a synthetic eye. It's already being manufactured by the ship's forge, and we'll be able to fit her with it in a couple of hours."

Ama looked relieved.

"Also, however," the doctor added, "we discovered something quite interesting with Ms. Shigure. Until recently, she was suffering from the effects of a long-term excess of mana within her body."

And then Ama shot right back up into alertness. "What?-!"

"It's like what happened to the Springfield boy after Konoe used her healing spell on him, but chronic. We believe Asa has been suffering from borderline mana overload for years now. We… had a Protoss on hand, and a psy-scan showed that she was deliberately avoiding any and all usage of her rather stupendous magical power because she remembered you, ma'am, showing the signs of trauma from whatever past you had, and felt that using her magic might remind you of those days and cause you more of that pain. …Little did she know that over too much time, and if it isn't vented properly, the amount of mana buildup she had could eventually prove fatal, causing a catastrophic overload and failure of her Linker Core that would spread to her vital systems."

At this, Ama was nearly overcome with guilt. All those times over the years, whenever Asa got sick with an unidentifiable, inexplicable illness… and she also remembered the few times she couldn't stop herself from crying due to the flashbacks, thinking and hoping that little Asa was asleep or out of earshot. She'd failed, and her daughter had nearly killed herself to try and spare her feelings. The normally cheerful woman collapsed into the seat behind her, tears streaming down her face as it all sank in.

"There is some good news, however" the doctor said. "During the… battle… Asa's survival instincts overcame her conscious restraint. She used her magic. And she used a lot of it. Granted, she's untrained, so her shields and bolts were unfocused, and she had to use much more mana for them than a trained mage would. But that may have been a good thing, because it allowed her to burn through all of the pent-up magical energy inside her body. In fact, she's showing signs of slight mana _deficiency_ right now… which can be cured by eating a good high-calorie meal, don't worry. The point is… if you can convince her to stop holding her magic back, she'll likely never have those 'episodes' again. And, well… she'd probably make a pretty powerful mage if she chose to be."

The room was silent for several seconds.

"May we see either of them?" Shion asked.

"Of course" the man replied. "Follow me."

The group followed down the hall, and crowded into the (surprisingly spacious) room where Asa lay in a bed, bandages wrapped around her chest and limbs, along with one covering her left eye. She was asleep, a heart monitor beeping steadily. Ama knelt down at her side, gently caressing the right side of her face. In response, the girl let out a light groan, and her eye opened.

"Mom?" she mumbled weakly.

"Yes, baby" the woman whispered. "I'm here. We're here."

Asa looked around, and her eye focused on Teana.

"Please…" she said. "Don't punish Kaede."

The redhead's eyes widened, surprised at the request. She looked a tad unsure.

"Please" Asa repeated.

"…Alright" Teana finally replied. "We'll need to have a talk with her, though. …Preferably someone other than me, because… I plan on doing to Takamachi exactly what Kaede did to you, so I'd be a hypocrite to say anything about this."

This confession of Teana's plans drew a little worry from the rest of her team.

"H-How are you feeling, Asa-_senpai_?" Rin asked from the other side of the bed.

"…How come I can't see you, Rin-chan?" Asa said, a slight playfulness to her voice. "Hiding from me?"

"Your… Your left eye is gone, _senpai_. The doctors couldn't save it."

Asa's face fell. "I… I see…"

"They're constructing a cybernetic replacement eye right now" Shion said. "It should be ready to go in your socket in a couple hours. You're still gonna have the scar, though; it cut down to the bone."

"This is my fault…" Rin said.

"I agree" Teana replied, catching the locals by surprise, and she then raised a hand to stop any objections. "You failed to take Kaede's feelings into account. You failed to notice that she was in love with you, despite the signs. You completely ignored her in favor of Shigure-san, and then announced your intention to move out of the house you & her had shared for years, which only exacerbated her serious psychological issues with dependence and abandonment – issues you should've known about considering your history with her. And when she finally returns, you don't even greet her and then ignore her for Shigure-san again."

"In Rin-chan's defense on that last part," Sia's father said, "I think he was too scared of the evil look Kaede-chan was giving him to say hi."

"So yes," Teana kept going, "I'd say it _is _your fault, Tsuchimi."

The young man was silent as it sank in just how thoroughly he had fucked things up.

"…Are you guys alright enough for us to go check on our teammate?" Marie asked.

"Go ahead" Asa said before anyone else could say otherwise.

With that, the girls of Gamma left, along with the Swansons (& Timmy), Kizuna …and Lisianthus, Nerine, & Primula. As they left, Ama turned to face Asa again.

"A-chan," she said, "I think we need to talk about something."

"What, mom?"

"Why didn't you tell me you had magical power?"

Rin looked thoroughly shocked. Asa froze up like a deer in headlights, her mother's concerned face filling her vision. "I… I didn't want you to…"

"Putting your mother's past traumas aside," the doctor interjected, "your self-imposed avoidance of using your magic would have caused her much more pain in the long run."

At this, Asa looked utterly confused. "W-What do you mean?"

"You had too much mana built up in your body" Ama replied. "All those times over the years, whenever you got that strange illness? That was the overload of magical energy adversely affecting your body. Because you never let yourself use any of it at all, it steadily built up more and more over the years. Hitting puberty lessened the strain for a while, but recently it reached dangerous levels again. …Asa… If you hadn't used a huge chunk of your magical energy when defending yourself from Kae-chan… the build-up and strain would've eventually killed you."

The injured teen was shocked and horrified at this point, as was Rin. "W-What?"

"Eventually," the doctor explained, "your Linker Core would've failed catastrophically, taking most of your body's vital systems with it. All the build-up raw mana would've burned you out. …Fortunately, however, you used a _significant _amount of the stored mana in your battle against Warrant Officer Fuyō, such that you're going to be out of danger of mana overload for at least several months even if you don't use any magic whatsoever from this point onward."

"Which isn't going to happen" Ama said with unusual seriousness. "I'm not upset that you have magical power. Asa… I know you're worried about me, and that's why you put yourself at such risk, but… it has to stop. In order to prevent that buildup from happening again, you're going to need to learn how to use your magic."

"B-But… All those times I caught you crying! And everything that… I can't do that to you, mama! I can't put you through that!"

"You won't!" her mother shouted, grasping her daughter's hands. Rin jumped in surprise; this was the first time he'd _ever _heard the kindly woman raise her voice. "Knowing you can use magic, seeing you use it, _will not _trigger those awful memories in me. It won't. I promise you that. And… even if it did, it would hurt a lot less for me than having my only child die a slow and painful death from mana burnout before she's even 20 years old. Okay? I'm not upset that you can use magic. In fact, I'll teach you some of the spells I know! Most are defense-type or support-type spells, but even routine telepathy and physical enhancement magic will be enough to prevent the buildup of mana in your body. Please… let me teach you."

Asa was quiet for several seconds, unsure of what to do. She startled as she felt Rin's hand grasp hers.

"Asa…" he said simply.

"…Okay" the teen said quietly. "Alright. As long as it doesn't cause you any suffering, I'll… I'll let you teach me, mom."

Ama let out a sigh of relief as she hugged her daughter, who returned it.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

The next few days were calmer, mostly because everyone worked to keep Kaede (who was back on her feet by the end of the day) as far away from Rin & Asa as possible (though even Kaede was a little shocked upon hearing just how deeply into darkness and rage she'd delved, claiming that her memory of the fight was fragmented and hazy). Asa was quickly gotten used to her synthetic left eye; its quality of vision was such that she was already forgetting it was cybernetic from time to time. When Asa finally got out of the hospital two days after the incident, Ama revealed that she as a _mazōku_, and thus Asa was half-_mazōku_; she had also started teaching her daughter the basics of proper shield spells.

Ahsoka and Shion had collectively had a Force Vision that showed that the "local group" (Asa, Ama, Lisianthus, Nerine, & Primula) were going to eventually be targeted by the mysterious enemy's forces no matter what, and if they stayed on this world the collateral damage would be unacceptable. However, if they joined the _Starshot_'s people in realm-hopping, they'd be amongst powerhouses who could fight off the encroaching threat with minimal or no innocent-bystander endangerment. Thus, they would need to come along for the ride; already they were all hammering out the details with those they had connections to who were staying here (friends, teachers, family, etc).

The pickups from the previous world continued to throw themselves into training, especially Marie's sisters. During sim training in which they were tricked into thinking had disabled safeties, Erika showed surprising courage that seemed quite at odds with her usual timidity. However, Ahsoka was quick to remind everyone about Nodoka Miyazaki, who was shy in social situations but unflappably brave in dangerous circumstances. Sarah, meanwhile, showed surprising tactical aptitude, often coming up with solid plans, taking initiative, keeping soldiers' morale up, and working well with the other girls of Gamma. Teana had an idea that she'd be keeping in mind as she watched the girl's future developments.

During a routine physical, it had been discovered that Rin's vision in his left eye was somewhat impaired. Examination revealed an old wound that had not fully/properly healed. Some prodding got him to confess the details of his & Kaede's childhood, including the incident with the boxcutter that had caused the damage. Fortunately, Phoenix League medical nanobots were able to repair the damage, fully restoring proper sight in that eye.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**12 days after **_**Starshot**_**'s arrival**

It was fortunate that the degree of automation contained within the _Starshot_ meant that there were significantly more quarters than there were people to live in them, and the ship's inherent customization meant that these quarters could be made fairly luxurious of the occupants so desired. Such it was that Asa & Ama Shigure, Rin Tsuchimi, Nerine Forbessi, Lisianthus Eustoma, and the still-surname-less Primula settled in aboard the vessel, affairs sorted out and ready to play among the stars. Kaede was less than happy to have "that Shigure bitch" along for the ride, but was all too happy to have Sia & Primula aboard.

The 1600-meter vessel soon left the outer edges of Earth's atmosphere. As the slipspace drives kicked in, Shion stared out into the void.

"Here we come, Satoshi…" she murmured. "I promise I'll be with you soon…"

**-**_**BOOK END**_**-**

**Next Time: **Book 9 – Break the Cycle (to be found in Nanoha/Higurashi X-over section)


End file.
